OL 8 must implement non-executable data to protect its memory from unauthorized code execution.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-248589	OL08-00-010420	SV-248589r853770_rule		Medium

Description
Some adversaries launch attacks with the intent of executing code in non-executable regions of memory or in memory locations that are prohibited. Security safeguards employed to protect memory include, for example, data execution prevention and address space layout randomization. Data execution prevention safeguards can be either hardware-enforced or software-enforced, with hardware providing the greater strength of mechanism. Examples of attacks are buffer overflow attacks.

Description

Some adversaries launch attacks with the intent of executing code in non-executable regions of memory or in memory locations that are prohibited. Security safeguards employed to protect memory include, for example, data execution prevention and address space layout randomization. Data execution prevention safeguards can be either hardware-enforced or software-enforced, with hardware providing the greater strength of mechanism. Examples of attacks are buffer overflow attacks.

STIG	Date
Oracle Linux 8 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2023-09-11

Details

Check Text ( C-52023r779331_chk )
Verify the NX (no-execution) bit flag is set on the system with the following commands: $ sudo dmesg \| grep NX [ 0.000000] NX (Execute Disable) protection: active If "dmesg" does not show "NX (Execute Disable) protection" active, check the "cpuinfo" settings with the following command: $ sudo less /proc/cpuinfo \| grep -i flags flags : fpu vme de pse tsc ms nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc If "flags" does not contain the "nx" flag, this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-52023r779331_chk )

Verify the NX (no-execution) bit flag is set on the system with the following commands:

$ sudo dmesg | grep NX

[ 0.000000] NX (Execute Disable) protection: active

If "dmesg" does not show "NX (Execute Disable) protection" active, check the "cpuinfo" settings with the following command:

$ sudo less /proc/cpuinfo | grep -i flags
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc ms nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc

If "flags" does not contain the "nx" flag, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-51977r779332_fix)
Enable the NX bit execute protection in the system BIOS.